On Friday, Oct. 28 Americans learned for sure what they had suspected for a while now: the Executive Branch betrayed one of its own employees, Valerie Plame Wilson, to its enemies in political retaliation for legitimate concerns her husband brought up over the faulty case for war in Iraq. The person who was indicted on the crime that was committed was Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, Scooter Libby. He is high enough in the administration to cause concern, but it gets even worse when you consider that such a functionary probably would not have released the name of Valerie Plame Wilson to the press without approval from someone higher, such as the vice president himself. This seems even more likely when you consider that the Bush administration has done nothing but praise Mr. Libby since his indictment.

What does this all mean? Well, first of all, it means that the popular caricatures of people like George Bush, Karl Rove and Dick Cheney were far closer to the mark than even their greatest detractors had realized. These bastards lied to everyone about what weapons of mass destruction Saddam Hussein had. When Joseph Wilson pointed out one of their lies, they invited an assassination attempt on his wife by revealing her identity.

This also puts their case on the Iraq War into an entirely new and disturbing light. The leak of Ms. Plame Wilson’s name, along with the “Downing Street Memo,” show how the administration deliberately deceived everyone by ignoring intelligence contrary to their policy goals and, also, how they were willing to ruthlessly punish those who got in their way.

Two thousand Americans are dead because of this deception. Had we known that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, we would have never embarked on a military adventure into the country. The ONLY reason for so cavalierly ignoring our allies, over-extending our army and upsetting the stability of the region would be if the lives of Americans were at stake. People supported such a rash action because they thought they were in danger of being killed by chemical, biological and nuclear weapons from Iraq.

But they were not. This war, as the cover-up and leak show, was not about self-defense but about politics. It came about because one group of people decided that political influence and change in the Middle East was worth the blood of thousands. It was a decision they had no right to make without consulting the rest of us about the reasons for war.

This revelation makes the ethos of the Bush administration and the Republican Party plainly clear. Human life is not important to them, only their own ideals. They have so willingly sacrificed thousands on the altar of neo-conservatism. Power in the Middle East, to them, is worth infinitely more than a young soldier and his friends and family. His humanity is a piece on board game they are willing to sacrifice for their own benefit; the American people are pawns in a great game for global superiority; truth is simply what they make it; and disagreement is something to be crushed and not embraced.

Of course, George Bush himself will never be taken to task for the leak and the other disgraceful things that have gone on during his time in office. George gets to keep his job and political influence. Political realities mean that he will, most likely, govern with congressional majorities through the end of his term. Moreover, about 40 percent of people still think he is doing a good job running the country. The funny part about those numbers is that if George Bush was ever caught having sex with an intern he would lose the support of just about everyone approving of his job performance right now. That’s the American political system for you. Cause the deaths of 2,000 American soldiers through incompetence, lying and treasonous political reprisals and 40 percent of people will think you are just fine. But have sex with someone in a naughty way and you disrespect the Office of the President and are worthy of impeachment.

Our only hope is that the American people realize that this is no good way to decide the worth of the president, and vote his supporters out of office. If not, we’ll have to continue to put up with this mess of a man, who has done not one good thing since coming to office. He’s annihilated our international respect, he’s taken away the civil liberties of thousands and now we know for sure that his administration has criminally used its powers to crush dissent. He’s made us more vulnerable by reducing the amount of troops at our disposal and increasing the amount of hatred directed at us. He’s profoundly and negatively altered the course of our country. What a disaster, what a shame.